This question is for anyone who is a lawyer or is in law school.?

Question

I am interested in becoming a lawyer because I believe that it is the right profession for me, because I love debate, and I love helping people get what they deserve. My question is do you like practicing law or being in law school, or do you regret the decision you made? I would really appreciate it if you could give me some advice or tips on what I should do it would really help.

Answer 1

Consider a profession which is truly humanitarian. The first lister approaches the fact of the matter but the truth sounds FAR more jaded then even he alludes...as per second poster.

We have far too many lawyers in the US as it is. The entire profession is rife with ambulance chasers literally and figuratively. Its even the forum from which most politicians escape and still manage to create more laws than is humanly possible to read, comprehend and justify...a hang over from when they were lawyers.

If no argument can persuade you consider family practice where you do real estate and wills and stay out of court..still not without its certain drama but comes closer to helping than most lawyers...and even then one wonders why you have to see a lawyer for such menial but important issues.

If you're smart enough to be a lawyer consider medicine instead...thats MY take....

Answer 2

I just graduated law school and can't find a job, so forgive me if I'm going to sound a little bitter.

If you can get into law school you probably have good grades. However, after you're first semester (unless you're an unbelievably bright and determined individual) you'll realize that you and most of your classmates are just surfing on the curve -- which in my first year was a C+. I got all C's and just thought this whole law thing isn't for me. However, I got through the first year and ended up graduating, but I'm not gonna reveal my mediocre GPA. ;)

Now I'm $150,000 in debt (that's law school and undergrad combined) and will eventually have to get a job that will crush my soul litigating for some rapacious senior partners just to pay off my student debt. This kind of job is not the type where you help people to "get what they deserve." Often, your client may be the wrong one and you're just negotiating for a settlement.

If you're lucky and can pay without loans, then you really can do some altruist things with your degree -- become a children's advocate for the state, a job in which you can often make sure justice really is served and feel a sense of accomplishment (obviously, these jobs don't pay too much).

Finally, I really wanted to be personal injury attorney when I began law school, but would not prefer to do transactional work, or even bankruptcy, rather than any kind of litigation. True, these jobs sound kind of boring and you're not really being a justice crusader, but it's a good way to use your noggin and make decent money. I find also that they're not as boring as they sound and those fields of law seem to be easier than things like your state's tort cases or constitutional rights, where one case can be predicted in a number of different ways.

Answer 3

Litigation is not, unfortunately, the forum for "helping people get what they deserve". It is largely a procedural game, where the most skilled (or better funded) player wins.

And intellectual debate is rare in law school, and almost unheard of in actual practice. The closest you get are motion hearings, and even then there isn't a lot of actual debate, to explore the issue, just trying to convince the judge that your argument is correct.

I enjoy being on the corporate side, doing transactional work, contracts, negotiation, etc. I find that much less stressful than litigating.

I also enjoy mediation, which truly helps people resolve their disputes. It may not be the abstract "what they deserve" but it is often more tangible and more satisfying for those involved.

I haven't quite come to the point where I regret the decision, but my real-world experiences outside of law school have seriously disillusioned any of the beliefs I used to hold about the courts dispensing justice, or law being a stimulating intellectual pursuit.

Answer 4

I respect the previous poster's answer but many people in law are solely in it for the money as a result of working long hours - the 6 or 7 figure salaries which are made in corporate law. Peter Angelos (who owns the Baltimore Orioles) won hundreds of millions in fees from asbestos and tobacco settlements. Corporate law involves billable hours.

Family law also involves billable hours as attorneys charge $300-$400 an hour to split up families and divide property between spouses.

Criminal defense law also involves billable hours when one defends drug dealers and others who have illegally obtained their proceeds.

Finally, public defenders and state attorney's are at the bottom of the salary barrel. The public defender attracts those who look to vindicate the wronged while the state's attorney looks to vindicate the victim by putting away those who've done wrong.

I respect the field of law and I wish I could have entered law but I'm not sure where I would fit in the above structure I described. I hope my answer is not an indictment on the legal system only to illustrate how one can make tons of money vs. one having a moral compass.

Answer 5

OK, first "getting people what they deserve" unless you are looking at getting all the money you can, you are not really looking at it propertly.

In criminal law, you are etiher trying to convict them no matter what, or get them off even if you know they are guilty as heck.
Many times the defense attorney gets very obvious evidence thrown out, to get very guilty people off.

In civil court you have to defend the person who comes to you, it may be the person who is cheating someone and wants to keep what he got, and you have to find a way to make him win. Sometimes it is the other way around but not always.

So you have to defend what ever client you get no matter what.

So helping people is not part of it, defending your clients interest no matter what is.

So you have to be able and willing to do what ever it takes to protect your client no matter if he is right or wrong

Answer 6

Most lawyers spend all their time doing stupid stuff, like oppressing the poor and helping the rich keep their money; or else filling out forms that are all alike: like bankruptcy petitions, divorce petitions, summonses for debt. Defending drunks ticketed for DUI.

It is not at all sexy for most lawyers. It's a living like any other.

On the other hand, you might be lucky and find a niche. Or you might have rich and influential friends and become a rainmaker.

Answer 7

Litigation is hard to learn